- Source: Arlington Heights Army Air Defense Site
The Arlington Heights Army Air Defense Site was a Project Nike Missile Master site near Chicago, Illinois. It operated from 1960 until 1968.
Installation started in late 1959 after the United States Army had purchased 44 acres (18 ha). Adjacent to the Arlington Heights Air Force Station, the Arlington Heights Army Installation opened on October 28, 1960, as the 8th of 10 Army Air Defense Command Posts (AADCP) to have a Martin AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System installed for Nike-Hercules command and control. In addition to the Army's 2 AN/FPS-6 radars, the radars of the co-located USAF station provided AADCP data for the 45th Artillery Brigade's control of the Chicago-Gary Defense Area (10 missile batteries and their Integrated Fire Control sites).[1] The vacuum tube AN/FSG-1 was replaced c. October 1967 with a solid-state Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System, which controlled the combined Chicago-Milwaukee Defense Area after the Milwaukee Defense Area merged with Chicago-Gary in 1968.
Project Concise ended the site's Nike operations in 1974, and 52 acres (21 ha) were transferred to the city parks district. A May 1979 golf course was built near the nuclear bunker—the Arlington Lakes Golf Club has 90 acres (36 ha) with 14 lakes.
Site locations
Nuclear bunker
Co-located IFC site 42°3′11″N 87°59′40″W
Co-located launch site 42°3′49″N 87°59′52″W